


Train To Manchester

by melwrotethis



Category: Train to Busan (2016), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Gore, Crossover, Horror, Multi, POV Third Person, YouTube, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-11 16:00:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16478597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melwrotethis/pseuds/melwrotethis
Summary: Entirely based off of the 2016 Korean zombie-apocalypse film Train To Busan, this story takes your favorite online creators and inserts them into the plot.When dozens of passengers get trapped on a zombie-infested train, it's kill or be killed and up to them to find a way off.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Train To Manchester - Introduction
> 
> This storyline/plot is in no way my own. All rights go to Yeon Sang-ho, the film director and screenwriter of the film Train To Busan. This story simply takes that plot and twists it to fit in YouTubers. I will repeat - this story is NOT mine. The only thing I did was basically writing it down with different people. That being said, there are also some things I would like to address:
> 
> I understand that this can be construed as “white-washing”. The original characters in the movie are Korean, and the people in this story are different types of European (British, Swedish, Italian, etc.). I mean it 100% when I say this is not what I meant when I thought of this. Believe me, I hate when this is done and would never do it purposely. I just happened to really enjoy the movie and think of what it would be like if some of my favorite entertainers were in this situation. 
> 
> If you don’t know what it’s about and don’t want to watch the movie (if you do want to watch the movie, read below), the plot is ultimately a bunch of passengers trapped on a train during a zombie outbreak.
> 
> If you haven’t seen the movie and are planning to, do not read this as there may be some spoilers (if you can figure them out). Also if you haven’t seen the movie, I HIGHLY recommend watching it. The movie is around two hours long and it’s on Netflix. Bring tissues, you’ll thank me later for that.
> 
> This entire story is graphic, that’s just the thing straight away. If you are uncomfortable with mutilation, severe injury, graphic death, & all around graphic depictions of violence, maybe this one isn’t for you.
> 
> I’ve changed some of the character relationships, so the relationships in the movie may be different than the ones in this adaption. Also, I have one character that I made up due to the fact that it’s the most hated character and I didn’t want to offend anyone by inserting a favorite YouTuber of theirs in that spot. I chose the name William, I’m sorry if there’s a YouTuber or someone else with that name that I’m not thinking of but I apologize.
> 
>  
> 
> That’s pretty much it. I had a lot of fun writing this and hopefully you’ll enjoy reading it. Feel free to give me any feedback (that I can actually use, constructive criticism only please) or ideas. Thanks!

PROLOGUE

He drove in silence, not even a radio playing. Noticing something strange up ahead, he sighed as he realized what it was. The quarantine “slow-down” zone. It was frustrating, if anything, to take time out of his day for this.

His car was hosed down by two men in hazmat suits. They finished up quickly, giving him the signal to move on. He groaned as he rolled down his window.

“What’s this?" He asked angrily. One of the men took off his mask.

“There was a minor leak in the Biotech District. It’s nothing.”

“That’s what you all have been saying for the past three days.” He kept his temper with the man. The man didn’t want to deal with this. The man told him to go right ahead, without finishing the quarantine. It didn’t feel like his job to deal with such a tempermental asshole.

He drove off, muttering to himself. Things like “ “Tiny leak”, my ass.” and “they’re so full of shit.” He shook his head, his cell phone beginning to ring in his bag. He swore under his breath, trying to grab it without taking his eyes off the road. Finally, he decided to peel his eyes away just for a moment so he could find it. Right as he did so, his car slammed into something and then over it. His eyes widened.

He slowed his car down off to the side of the road. He looked behind him to see a trail of animal blood behind the car. He got out of the car and rushed over to the very large motionless lump of fur in the middle of the road. Thankfully the road was nearly abandoned in the morning, only the sound of leaves rustling in the trees above him. He looked down and saw a pool of blood surrounding a deer. A deer with a broken neck and body that was unnaturally lying there. It wasn’t even twitching. It was far gone. He raced back to his car, eager to get the hell out of there. He drove away without looking back.

The car was far out of sight by now. The man who hit the poor deer was gone. All that was left was the rotting carcass of the deer, now soaked in blood.

The deer twitched.

It twitched some more.  
It was thrashing.

The deer was kicking its legs wildly.

It was desperately trying to get up, thrashing its entire body.

It’s joints clicked into place, its body’s bones no longer looked unnatural.

The deer was up off the ground.

It looked around, everything was different.

Its eyes were no longer black but a sickening light gray.

The deer, soaked in blood, with a broken neck that was no longer broken,

It was dead...and then it wasn’t.


	2. One

**CHAPTER ONE**

“Sir…” Phil shifted his grip on the phone. “If we pull out now, the market will suffer.” He said into the receiver. “This could be based on a false report but-” He was cut off and listened to his boss. “Yes, right away.” He answered. “Take care.” Phil sighed as his boss hung up. He dialed the front desk. “Send Hazel in.” He said, hanging up before hearing an answer. He soon heard a knock on his office door. Hazel entered without Phil saying anything.

“What should we do?” She asked almost immediately.

“Sell all related funds.” Phil answered blankly, not looking up from his computer screen. Hazel’s eyes widened.

“Everything?” She said softly.

“Yes, everything.”

“There will be serious repercussions. Market stability and individual traders will-”

“Hazel.” Phil looked up at her. She clenched her jaw.

“Sir?”

“Sell everything. Right away.” He said. She nodded once.

“Yes, sir.”

_________________________

Phil chuckled as he entered the parking garage, his cell phone in hand.

“Yes, Louise, I’ve remembered.” He assured his sister.

“And you’re sure it’s not...weird to visit me for your anniversary? I feel like you two should spend some time alone together.” She said, her voice slightly muffled into the receiver.

“We will, trust me. Just for the night we need a place to stay. Why pay for a hotel in Manchester when we’ve got you?” He teased.

“Gee, thanks.” She giggled. Phil heard Darcy yelling “mum!” in the background of the phone call.

“I should probably let you go, then.” He clicked his tongue. “Dan and I will take the train tomorrow. I know Darcy has school, so there’s no need to stress about picking us up.”

“Why not take the train tonight, so you won’t have to on the day of your anniversary?”

“I suppose we could, although it’s more than likely too late for that.” He pointed out. He shrugged. “It’s alright, we’ll see you tomorrow Louise.”

The two said their goodbyes and Phil climbed into his car, pulling out of the parking garage and heading home.

 

Phil jostled the key into the lock, opening the door wide and setting his bag down. He unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt on his way to the bedroom. He quietly opened the door to the dark room. His husband was under the blankets, sound asleep. Phil walked over to him, softly placing his hand on Dan’s sleeping head. He heard a muffled murmur as Dan shifted in bed.

“I’ve got to turn on the light, sorry love.” He whispered, turning on the lamp. Dan barely flinched. He murmured again, this time sitting up and pulling the blankets that were on him slightly down.

“It’s alright. How was your day?” Dan asked as Phil unbuttoned the rest of his shirt.

“Stressful. Makes me glad I’m taking a day off tomorrow.” He sighed. Dan smiled. “Speaking of which…” Phil reached in his pocket, pulling out a small velvet box. “I know it’s tomorrow, but I really could not wait to give this to you.” He said, handing the box to Dan. Dan rolled his eyes.

“You dingus. Now I look bad for having mailed my present to Louise’s house so you could open it there.” He huffed. Phil laughed as he placed the box in Dan’s hands. Dan opened it, his heart immediately melting.

“Phil…” he started to tear up at the sight of a gold circular locket.

“You haven’t even opened it yet.” Phil chuckled as Dan fumbled with the locket. He finally got it open. Hot tears rushed down Dan’s face. It was a photo of their wedding day, Dan’s favorite photo. Phil knew it was Dan’s favorite because he would say so every time they looked through the album. _“Look, that’s the one! That one’s my favorite, Phil!”_

“Phil...I don’t even have words.” Dan leaned over and kissed Phil’s lips softly. “Thank you so much, dear. I...I _love_ it.” He grabbed Phil’s face and pulled him in for a deeper kiss.

“I love you.” Phil said as he pressed a kiss into Dan’s temple. Dan softly closed the box and placed it on their nightstand, excited to wear Phil’s present in the morning.

Dan soon fell back asleep, leaving Phil to wander around the house. He eyed the guitar sitting on its stand in the living room. He smiled and walked over to it, thinking about the feeling he got when he played it. He obviously couldn’t play it now, not with Dan asleep. But he thought about the first song he sang with Dan, the song that became theirs.

 _You are my sunshine_  
_My only sunshine_  
_You make me happy_  
_When skies are gray_  
_You’ll never know, dear_  
_How much I love you_  
_Please don’t take my sunshine away_

______________________

 

“Yes, Louise...yes.” Dan laughed into the cell phone. Phil smiled and shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. It was 6:30 am, the two were on their way to the train station. “Okay, see you soon. Bye-bye.” Dan hung up the phone. They were silent for a moment.

“Ten years.” Phil said, breaking the silence. Dan looked over at his husband, who’s eyes were still on the road. He smiled.

“Yes, ten years. No homo, though.” Dan cracked, and the two men laughed.

“You’d think we’d be sick of each other by now.” Phil smiled, keeping one hand and the steering wheel and the other gripping Dan’s thigh lovingly.

“We aren’t?” Dan joked.

“Cute.”

“But of course, the spark isn’t gone.”

“Never has been.” Phil squeezed Dan’s thigh, still smiling. The two heard sirens blaring behind them. Ambulances zipped past the car, along with firetrucks and a few police cars. “Something’s happened.” Phil said with his eyes wide.

“Thank you, Phil. I never would have noticed without you pointing it out.” Dan said sarcastically. Phil softly punched his shoulder.

“Aren’t you being a bit of a smart-ass today?”

“ _Today_?” Dan chuckled. Phil sighed, shaking his head and laughing as he continued to drive down the road to the train station. They could still hear the sirens. “What could be going on this early?” Dan asked. Phil shrugged.

“Hopefully nothing too awful.” He said with doubt in his voice. There were too many emergency vehicles for that to be true.

 

“Attention: Train 101 for Manchester is departing shortly.” Phil and Dan heard over the loudspeaker. There were hundreds of other people in the station, but the two were close enough to the train that they didn’t need to be worried about missing it.

______________________

“Dodie, your scarf.” Tom alerted his coworker. Dorothy looked down to see her bright blue train car attendant uniform not quite matching up with the others. She smiled, nodding her head and fixing it.

“Just pick a seat, dipshit.” Brad elbowed Felix in the gut. Felix nearly tackled Brad into a seat, Marzia rolling her eyes.

“No need to be aggressive.” She flicked her fiancé in the head. Felix had a fake look of betrayal, making Marzia giggle.

“Yeah _Felix_.” Sive taunted. Ken kicked Sive’s rear, making him go forward.

“Ow, damn you!” Sive elbowed Ken into a seat. Ken stayed there, not bothering to get up and handed Brad his bag.  
“Would you be a doll and put that in the compartment for me?” Ken batted his eyes. Brad simply swatted it away.

“Jesus, Brad.” Sean hobbled into the train car, carrying a bag that was bigger than he was. “I’ll take it, Ken. Soon as I put this up here.” The smaller man tried his best to heft up the large bag, which contained his drums.

Felix, Sive, Ken, Brad, and Sean had all started a band back when Brad dropped out of college and proposed the idea. The guys were headed to perform at Satans Hollow, one of the most popular clubs in Manchester. Marzia, Felix’s fiancé, was also coming along with them.

“Oy, need help madame?” Sive taunted Sean, even though Sive was the second smallest after him.

“Piss off, I got it.” Sean finally hoisted up the large bag into the compartment, then grabbing Ken’s bag and putting it up there with it. Sean sat down next to Ken. The guys tormented each other daily, but they couldn’t live without each other. They had a special bond that couldn’t be broken.

 

Zoe had finally gotten the shell off of her hard boiled egg, the pieces in a paper towel on her lap. She handed it to her brother. Joe scoffed.

“When did you boil this? We’ll arrive in an hour, what’s the point? I don’t want it.” He pushed her hand away. She rolled her eyes.

“You are so stubborn. Take it.” She nudged. He shook his head and laughed.

“I don’t want it!”

____________________________

“Are you on the train?” Hazel asked. Phil nodded, then felt stupid upon realizing Hazel couldn’t see him nod.

“Yes, what is it?” He asked as he and Dan walked down the aisle, looking for two empty seats together.

“We’ve been getting a lot of calls. There was a strike at Rowntree Park.”

“What?” Phil asked. Dan pointed to two empty seats. Phil nodded and handed his suitcase to Dan. It wasn’t too heavy, so he figured Dan wouldn’t have a problem placing it in the compartment. “Prep a situation report for me.” Phil sighed.

 

The conductor faced the engine, giving the engineer a thumbs up. As he was turned around, a woman ran onto the train. The conductor heard loud footsteps behind him, but by the time he turned around she was already inside the train. The train doors closed, no one else could go in or out. The woman stayed in the junction between two of the cars. She was thrashing in pain, holding her leg. No one saw her.

The woman’s leg was dripping with blood. She was in so much pain she could hardly breathe, barely standing up and constantly gasping for air. She held the walls tightly, forming a gargling scream as she let go of her leg.

There was a very deep animal bite on her thigh that was bleeding out heavily. She continued to writhe in pain, only one question in her mind.

How could only a deer do _this?_


	3. Two

**CHAPTER TWO**

“Excuse me?” William asked Tom, a car attendant.

“Good morning.” Tom greeted.

“I think someone...odd...got on board.” William explained.

“Where?” Tom asked worriedly.

“He’s in the washroom.” William gestured towards it. “I don’t know what he’s doing.”

“Our apologies, we’ll check right away.” Tom assured him. William nodded.

 

Dan looked over to a sleeping Phil. He silently got up from his chair, pushing past Phil softly as to not wake him. He walked on over to the washroom. There were two men outside the door, one in a bright blue uniform indicating he was a car attendant. The other was in a formal suit. The car attendant knocked on the washroom door.

“Excuse me?” He asked. No reply. “Excuse me?” He said again. Still no answer. “Sir?” The attendant had no choice but to open the door himself. Inside was a man on his knees in a fetal position, shaking.

“All dead...everyone…” The man whispered.

“Sir?” The attendant asked. His name tag read _Tom_. “May I check your ticket?” Tom asked the man on the floor.

“All dead…” The man repeated.

“Sir, if you do not have a ticket, you’ll be escorted off at the next station.” Tom said calmly. Dan continued to watch, even though it seemed wrong to.

“Everyone’s dead…” The man continued to shake, his voice quivering with tears in his eyes.

“Pardon?”

“All dead…” He opened his mouth widely and gasped. He looked back down at the floor.

Dan felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see the man in the formal suit raising an eyebrow at him. The man had wrinkles that formed around his mouth to his ears, making him look almost like a ventriloquist doll. Wrinkles formed also on his eyelids, giving him a sleepy look although his eyes were fully open. He patted Dan’s shoulder.

“Do drugs and you’ll end up like him.” He said. Dan shook his head and turned back around.

“He’s ill and can’t help it. That isn’t nice of you to say.” Dan said, not facing the man.

“Sir, please come out.” Tom said to the man in the bathroom. Dan stared at this man, their eyes meeting. He was still shaking. A look of sympathy fell across Dan’s face, along with concern. But the only thing Dan could see in the man’s eyes was fear.

____________________________

The woman limped into one of the cars, no one bothering to look up at the woman whose leg was leaving a heavy trail of blood. Dark purple veins shot up her leg as well. She continued to walk until she reached another junction between two cars. Then, she couldn’t take it anymore and fell down, thrashing her body wildly.

____________________________

 

Dan made his way over to the other bathroom, assuming the one closest to his car was going to be occupied by the man in the fetal position for a while. There was another man there, around his age with a full head of curly brown hair and green eyes. He was just standing there. Dan put a hand on the washroom door when the man grabbed his wrist, gently pulling Dan’s hand away from the knob.

“Two people are pissing, so it’ll take a bit.” The man said. Dan raised an eyebrow. The man pointed Dan to the next bathroom over, in the next junction. “There, use that washroom over there.” He told Dan. “This’ll take a bit.” He nudged Dan to go on. “Honey, how’s it going in there?” The man asked whoever was behind the door. There was a slam from the other side. “Sorry, I’m sorry. No worries, take your time.” He kept nudging Dan until Dan finally obliged.

____________________________

Dodie walked into one of the junctions, phone in hand as she texted one of her friends in America. She smiled down at the phone, then looked up to make sure she was going the right way. In front of her was a woman thrashing violently on the floor. Dodie nearly dropped her phone and immediately fell to her knees, grabbing the woman.

“Miss, are you okay?” She asked frantically. “Miss! Oh my God!” She screamed as she looked at the blood pooling around the woman, dark purple veins forming across the woman’s forehead. She desperately reached for her walkie. “A passenger requiring immediate medical attention in car 11!” She yelled into the receiver. “Chief!”

____________________________

Phil woke to his phone ringing in his pocket. He grabbed it and looked over, noticing that Dan was gone. He answered the phone.

“Philip, sir?” Hazel’s voice rang in his ear.

“Yes, Hazel.”

“It’s more serious than we anticipated. It’s not just an overnight Rowntree incident. I don’t know what’s happening but it’s not a simple strike. Military was deployed to control riots, they say it’s nationwide.” Hazel said. Phil could hear the fear in her voice. He was about to answer when a man in a bright blue uniform ran past him.

“Is it airborne?” He asked into his walkie. There was a beat. “Is she breathing?” He asked and closed the junction door behind him, Phil barely hearing a woman’s voice yelling “the seizures are uncontrollable” from the other side of the walkie.

“Sir, what should we do?” Phil heard Hazel’s voice over the phone. He looked down at the phone.

“I’ll call you back.”

____________________________

“Miss?” Dodie shook the woman. Her walkie talkie went silent. “Oh god...chief!” She yelled into the receiver.

She was too preoccupied to notice the woman now standing behind her, the seizures gone. The woman cracked her neck loudly, dark purple veins now covering her entire face. Her eyes were no longer blue but a sickening shade of light gray.

“Chief?” Dodie asked. She heard the loud crackling of joints clicking into place and turned around, her heart dropping as she saw the horrifying display of the woman practically looming above her. The woman’s mouth was open and her jaw seemed to be the only thing that wasn’t snapped into place. A stream of blood trickled down from the woman’s broken jaw. Dodie looked up to see the hideous gray eyes now belonging to the woman staring down at her. The woman wasn’t human. Not anymore. She took a step closer to Dodie.

“Dorothy!” Marcus, one of the car attendants, yelled into his walkie. His line with her had been cut abruptly. He ran as fast as he could through the train aisles and junctions to get to her. He sprinted past Dan, who was just about to open the washroom door. Dan stared at the man in the uniform running until he was out of sight and in the next train car. Dan shook it off and opened the washroom door, stepping in and locking the door.

 

“Stop that!” Brad yelled at Sive, who was poking him non-stop. Brad turned to face the aisle and his eyes widened. A woman in a bright blue uniform was walking down the train car’s aisle, gasping for air and attempting scream. On her shoulders was another woman, dripping in blood and covered in dark purple veins. The woman in the uniform was crying as the woman on her shoulders had her head buried in her neck, draining the blood from it.

“Help.” Was all the woman could gasp. The entire train car at this point was speechless, no one dared to move. Everyone’s eyes were on the women in front of them. They fell on the floor and a few people jumped.

“What’s happening?” Felix asked frantically, Marzia was too horrified to talk. The woman took her teeth off the other, baring her teeth at the rest of the train car. Her mouth was drenched in the car attendant’s blood. The creature then sprinted over to the man closest to her and tackled him onto the seat, latching her teeth onto his shoulder. The man let out an animalistic scream at the pain shooting up his collar bone.

“Holy shit!” Sean yelled, jumping up from his seat and sprinting towards the back away from the creature. The car attendant was still on the floor, twitching uncontrollably. Marzia looked down and tears filled her eyes as she made eye contact with the woman in the uniform. Her eyes shifted from golden brown to light gray. The car attendant, who’s name tag read “Dodie”, thrashed her body violently until finally she sat up abruptly, purple veins streaking all the way from her forehead to her neck. Her neck was gushing out blood, which didn’t seem to affect her in the slightest as she continued to thrash her body and hiss loudly. This wasn’t the same woman Marzia had seen a minute ago.

“Excuse me, please! Emergency!” Marcus and Tom sprinted together down the train. Everyone was alert at this point, having heard the screams coming from one of the cars. As soon as they opened the door to a car, people dashed out with pale faces and cold sweat dripping from their foreheads.

Tom looked up to see Dodie violently crash into one of the passengers, tearing a chunk of skin out of his face with her own teeth. Her eyes were blank yet all the more horrifying. Blood pooled in her mouth as she attacked the man underneath her again, latching her mouth onto his neck. Tom couldn’t describe what he was feeling even if he tried. People screamed and screamed, more rushing out of the car and into the next. It was a warzone, people were fighting off these creatures left and right.

One of them barrelled towards Marzia. She shut her eyes and screamed as Felix grabbed his guitar and sliced the creature’s head with it, knocking it down so Marzia could run. She grabbed Sean and followed Sive, Brad, and Ken, who were running to the other car. Felix followed right after them.

Marcus ran back the way he came, telling people to run as fast as they could to the next few cars over. He was screaming and frantically helped an elderly woman up.

“Run! _RUN!_ Everyone RUN!” He screamed over and over again. People did as they were told, fearing for their lives. “Conductor, we have a situation!” He yelled into his walkie. “Sir, violence broke out in the cabin!” He dropped the walkie and ran with the passengers.

____________________________

Phil knocked on the washroom door.

“Dan?” He asked. He opened the door. No one was in there. Dan must be in the other one. A man sprinted past him.

“Run!” He screamed. He was the only man there. Nothing was chasing him, nothing that Phil could see. He looked to the car the man came from. Everyone was standing up, their backs facing to Phil. They looked like they were looking at something.

 

Dan dried his hands with a paper towel, tossing it in the bin. He heard a woman shriek outside the bathroom. He jumped, startled. He opened the door and people sprinted past him, screaming things like “Oh my God!” and “What the hell is that?!”. Dan decided to follow them and ran back to his original car where his stuff was. Phil wasn’t there.

 

“Get out of here, head for the back!” Tom screamed, grabbing people. He stopped for a moment to help someone up and was tackled to the ground by his former co-worker. Dodie sank her teeth into the top of his head, Tom screaming out in pain. Phil jumped back, staring at the sight before him. A woman drenched in blood tearing the skin off her own co-worker, with dark purple veins covering her entire body and eyes that were completely blank.

Phil ran. He hadn’t run this fast in his life. He thought about his husband and tears streamed from his eyes at the thought of what might happen to him. Phil made the mistake of looking back and almost vomited from fear as a mass of at least fifteen of those bloody creatures chased him down at lightning speed. He ran to the original car he was in.

 

PJ sighed, tapping his foot as he waited for Sophie. He’s had to tell three people today to use another bathroom because Sophie would take a long time. He couldn’t blame her, she was pregnant. He continued to tap his foot, suddenly hearing a scream come from the car to his right. A swarm of people pushed past him, screaming. Sophie opened the door.

“Here we are.” She massaged her belly. They looked over at another swarm of people running who were constantly looking behind themselves. One screamed, “they’re getting closer!” causing everyone to sprint faster. Then PJ and Sophie saw one.

The situation was impossible to comprehend. They looked like any other zombies PJ had seen before, but that wasn’t...possible. Still, he grabbed his wife’s hand and ran. He paced himself to run with her as she couldn’t run quite as fast in her condition. Two men ran past him, one PJ felt he had seen before. It was the one he had told to use the other washroom, the really tall one.

PJ and Sophie obviously fell behind everyone else, although Sophie was running as fast as she possibly could. Tons of horrified people gathered into one car, and PJ and Sophie felt as if that was their safest bet. Sophie looked behind her, trying not to scream as she saw how close the creatures were. They continued to run, nearing the safe car. People in the car were screaming as the door was left open.

“Get the door!” One screamed. Phil ran to the door and shut it just as Sophie and PJ reached it. Sophie slammed her hands on the door, screaming and eyes watering. Dan’s eyes widened when he saw PJ.  
“I know him!” Dan yelled. PJ punched the first zombie behind him as hard as he could, knocking it down clean. Phil opened the door slightly, allowing PJ and Sophie to scramble in just in time. They closed the door as soon as one of the creatures threw itself onto it. There had to be over 60 of them now. They multiplied too fast.

“Where’s the lock?” PJ asked frantically, his hands still holding the door. “Hey!” He said to Phil. “How do I lock this?” He asked him. Phil had a blank expression on his face. “Do you hear me?” PJ asked impatiently.

“Let it go.” Phil said.

“Are you insane?” PJ asked.

“I...don’t think they know how to work it.” Phil said, his heart pounding. PJ breathed in deeply and slowly let it go, causing the other thirty people in the car to gasp. Phil was right. The door didn’t budge. “They attacked when they saw us.” Phil continued.

Sophie grabbed a water bottle and uncapped it, throwing the water on the door. People murmured, but didn’t stop her. She ripped up a newspaper and placed the pages onto the wet parts of the door, covering the sight of the creatures. As soon as she did, everything stopped. The zombies no longer threw themselves at the door. People sighed in relief and a few sat down. Some were crying.

“What in the...what are they?” William asked. People shook their heads. No one knew. Phil turned around to face Dan, holding both of his hands.

“Dan, are you okay?” He asked, running his fingers through Dan’s hair. Dan nodded, out of breath.

“Hey, buddy.” Phil felt a hand tap his shoulder. He turned around to face a man with curly brown hair and green eyes, the same one he let in the car at the last minute after closing the door.

“Yes, what is it?” Phil asked.

“Think you might owe us an apology?” PJ said sternly.

“What do you mean?” Phil said, raising an eyebrow.

“You slammed the door in our faces, asshole!” PJ yelled.  
“You weren’t the only ones in danger!” Phil yelled back. PJ grabbed Phil by the collar.

“Stop it!” Sophie hit PJ in the chest.

“Attention, please.” Everyone stopped what they were doing and listened to the conductor on the loudspeaker. PJ let go of Phil. “Due to the current situation, we will no longer be stopping in Leeds. For your safety, please remain in your seats.” Everyone began talking, outraged. William marched over to the buzzer.

“Hello, is anyone there?” He asked. The conductor answered, “yes.”. William growled. “Do you even know what’s going on back here?” He asked angrily. “Why aren’t you stopping in Leeds?”

“We are aware, sir.” The conductor said. Everyone was quiet again, listening to their conversation. “This is an order from our control center. Please be seated.”

“That’s nonsense!” William screamed. “People are going _rabid!_ Stop in Leeds, got it?” William hung up the buzzer.

Sophie was sitting down, rubbing her pregnant stomach. PJ was standing, his hand on her shoulder. Zoe and Joe were breathing heavily, trying their best to comfort one another. Dan was sitting on the floor, Phil right next to him. Dan laid his head on Phil, tears streaming from his eyes. Dan’s hands roamed his own neck, thinking about the pain he saw. His fingers felt something cold and metallic near his collarbone. The locket. He began to cry more, stroking the locket with his thumb. Sean and Marzia huddled together, crying softly and shaking. Felix had his arms around Marzia’s shoulders, pecking her neck softly. Brad, Sive, and Ken breathed in, exhaling loudly.

This wasn’t the ride anyone had in mind.


	4. Three

**CHAPTER THREE**

  The train began to slow down. Dan looked out the window and saw they were headed for the station in Leeds. He exhaled a breath of small relief, thinking it might be over. He stared out the window some more as they pulled into the Leeds station. Suddenly, a man ran to the window as they were pulling in, startling Dan as the man slammed his hands on the window, begging to get in. He was screaming at the top of his lungs.

  Soon there were dozens of people slamming their hands on the windows, causing the passengers inside of the train to jump back. Everyone was screaming and crying. They all were pleading to be let inside the train. Out of nowhere, a few were tackled to the ground. The rest abandoned the train and started running away. The passengers looked to see who was chasing them.

  Of course it was the soulless corpses that had been attacking the passengers all day. The creatures looked even worse here - limbs were dangling by thin bone, arms were behind their heads unnaturally, blood seemed to seep from every crevice imaginable. It hardly even looked like blood anymore. It was thick and black, like tar.

 _“My fellow citizens…violent riots have broken out in a number of four major cities, resulting in multiple civilian and police injuries.”_ A radio began over the loudspeaker. _“Thanks to our government’s rapid response, a number of outbreaks are being contained. Please stay in the safety of your own homes. To the best of our knowledge, your safety is not in jeopardy.”_  

  Everyone was silent. They thought about what they saw. The nice woman who helped them on the train and showed them to their car, she later spewed blood and mutilated people with her own mouth. Some of the people they had made small talk with in the beginning had later attacked them and their loved ones, no longer looking human. These passengers saw _children_ being turned into one of these creatures, they saw eyes roll into the backs of heads and thick blood trickling down from them instead of tears. These passengers have now seen insanity to its full extent, if not more.

“Louise’s phone is off.” Dan turned to Phil, who’s heart started pounding the minute Dan said that. He prayed to every God he could think of that his sister was okay.

“May I have your attention, please.” The loudspeaker began again, this time it was the train conductor’s voice. “Our train will terminate service at Huddersfield station. Military is deployed at this location to secure our train. So once we arrive, please exit the train. As you can see, the Leeds station is highly unsafe. I repeat, Huddersfield station will be our last stop.” The loudspeaker cut off. People began murmuring.

“Which cities can be entered?” William asked over the phone. “Rochdale, Bolton, Manchester. What about Huddersfield?” He asked. “What about Huddersfield?” He repeated, louder. “Why not?!” He yelled.

“Dan, stay put.” Phil said as he pulled out his phone and left the junction, attempting to call Louise. Dan tried to object, not wanting to be seperated from Phil, but Phil was gone before Dan had the chance to say anything. The train began to move again out of the Leeds station.

“Hey.” He heard someone say to him. He turned around to face the man with the curly hair and green eyes. The one Phil had closed the door on.

 “Yes?” Dan said politely.

 “Who is this? Your friend?” The man asked. Dan shook his head.

 “My...my husband.” He told the man. The man nodded.

 “Okay. What does he do?”

 “He’s a fund manager.”

 “Fund manager?” The man turned to the pregnant woman next to him, who Dan assumed was his wife or girlfriend since they were standing so close. “So he’s a bloodsucker.” He said to the woman. “He leeches off of others.”

 “Don’t say that in front of his spouse, you imbecile.” She spat.

 “It’s okay.” Dan couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at the man’s analogy. The woman smiled at him, rummaging through her purse. She pulled out a bag of sour gummy worms and handed one to Dan.

 “Would you like one? It’s what Sleepy eats.” She said. Dan smiled back and took the gummy worm. He raised an eyebrow. She giggled. “This is Sleepy.” She pointed to her pregnant stomach.

 “Your baby’s name is Sleepy?” Dan asked.

“No, that’s the fetus’ name. It’s like a nickname.” She smiled, then frowned. “Her dad’s too lazy to come up with a real name yet.” She eyed the man, shoving him slightly. He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “You can feel Sleepy, if you’d like.” She said softly. Dan grinned. He’s never really had pregnant woman or friend in his life before, so this was new to him. He reached his hand out and she placed it on the right spot on her stomach. Dan giggled, then jumped slightly as he felt something move.

 “Feel that?” The man asked, grinning. Dan smiled brightly, nodding his head. “I made that.” The man said. Dan laughed. The woman rolled her eyes.

“You idiot…”

 “It’s true, is it not?” He joked.

 “I’m Sophie.” She held her hand out to Dan. Dan took his hand off of her belly and shook Sophie’s hand. She kicked the green-eyed man in the shin. “This moron here is PJ.”

 “That was unnecessary.” He chuckled, rubbing his shin with his opposite foot.

 “I’m Daniel.” Dan smiled. “Or just Dan.”

 “Nice to meet you, Daniel.” Sophie smiled. “So...not exactly the ride we anticipated, was it?”

 “No.” Dan sighed. “But it...should be over and done with once we get to Huddersfield.”

 

 

“Philip, sir, you’ve called me at a bad time-” Hazel’s voice started. 

“Wait, wait!” He began. “Let me just ask you something...I’m on the train to Huddersfield-”

“The train?” She screamed. “Right this minute?!”

 “Yes, I’m almost there. Is it true the military is deployed in Huddersfield?”

 “Yes...yes, that is correct.” Hazel said, lowering her voice.

“Is that so? Then it must be safe there.”

“Well...it’s…”

“Hazel. It is safe, right?” Phil asked. 

“Once you arrive, you’ll be quarantined.” She said.

“What?” He sighed. “I’m with my husband. Can you help us?” He pleaded.

“Fine. Don’t go to the main square. Come to the East one. I’ll let my men know.” 

“Thank you, Hazel. Thank you so much.” He hung up his cellphone, making his way back to the junction where Dan was.

 

____________________________

 

“What’s going on?” Someone asked as people looked outside the window. The train was still moving, it was around five minutes before they reached the station. But something wasn’t right outside.

“Where _is_ everyone?” Another person asked. Huddersfield was a wasteland, absolutely no cars on the roads, no other civilian in sight. It looked...wrong.

“Is this even Huddersfield?” Someone else asked.

“There’s...nobody.” William said. “Why isn’t anyone here?”

  The train finally pulled into the station. It still didn’t feel right. People were shaking as the door opened, terrified to step out. Everything was so quiet. Everything was so unsettling and nerve-racking, so...wrong.

 “Out of my way.” William pushed past the people who were too scared to step off. He scrambled of the train and onto the station pavement. People started to slowly get off the train. They walked farther along the pavement, passing the windows of train cars. Some people were still inside, waiting to get out.

  Phil grabbed Dan’s hand and helped him down, PJ doing the same with Sophie. Zoe and Joe held on to each other, praying nothing jumped out at them as they walked down. Felix carefully stepped down, holding his arms back in case something tried attacking the rest of his group. Marzia peered her head out. Felix had his electric guitar in hand. It had proven to be a useful weapon back on the train.

“What’s going on back there?” The conductor asked. Marcus walked him toward one of the car windows. There they were, all piled up in the back cars. They were hissing and pounding on the window, blood spewing from their mouths and all with blank eyes. There had to be a mass of around eighty in total. Bloody handprints smeared all over the windows, the creatures bodies thrashing uncontrollably, their movements much like seizures.

“This...this is the violent incident I told you about.” Marcus said. The conductor, Caspar, could hardly believe what he was seeing. He had seen plenty of zombie movies, but obviously never this up-close and personal. And never this dangerous. Not only were lives at stake, many were already gone.

“Conductor!” William sprinted into Caspar, almost knocking him over. “You’re the conductor?”

 “Yes-” Caspar started.

 “How many can fit in the engine car?” William asked frantically. “We have to uncouple it and go to Manchester!”

 “Uncouple?” Caspar asked. “We can’t!”

 “Why not?!” William screamed in his face.

“It can’t be done here!”

 “Then where’s the military?!” William screamed again

 “Right...I only just received a report on that…” Caspar tried to remember.

 “Listen, I’m COO of Stallion Express. All routes to Huddersfield are cut off. All buses were rerouted. But what for? THE CITY’S BEEN QUARANTINED!” He screamed. “They probably won’t let us in. But Manchester is still open! Let’s go there!” William started to run but Caspar held him back.

“Wait, wait, wait, if that’s true...we have to take the others!” Caspar exclaimed.

“Take who?” William asked impatiently. Caspar ignored him, turning to Marcus.

 “Let’s check the station first!” Caspar and Marcus ran toward the platform of the station.

 “Hey, hey!” William called, but the men were already gone. “Dammit!”

  


  Everyone rode the escalator in silence. The band members were the first to step off, heading to the platform. Felix and Sive didn’t bring their guitars, Brad didn’t bother to bring his keyboard, and Sean couldn’t care less about his drum set. They were lucky to make it out of there alive, and getting the instruments back would be impossible without being bitten.

  Phil grabbed Dan’s wrist and pulled him away from the others, heading to the East square. People eyed them suspiciously but said nothing. Sophie turned and raised an eyebrow. PJ put his hands on her shoulders, telling her to focus on only herself.

 “Come on, Dan.” Phil said as Dan stopped suddenly.

 “Where are we going?” Dan asked.

 “We’re going this way.” Phil said, his eyes off of Dan and instead looking out to see if he could spot Emma’s men.

 “Just us?”

 “Yes, let’s go.” Phil grabbed Dan’s arm, but Dan stayed put. Phil closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. He opened them to see a man standing near them, also nearing the East square. Dan recognized him. It was the insane man in the first washroom, the one who kept talking about everyone dying. He had scruffy dark hair and a patchy stubble. The man looked drunk. He was just staring at the couple.

“What is it?” Phil asked defensively.

“I’m…” The man started, staggering over towards them. “I’m going this way too.”

“Main square is that way, just follow the others.” Phil told the man.

 “I think I’ll be going with you.” The man said. His breath smelled of whiskey and burnt meat. “I heard your phone call.” He continued. Phil’s heart began racing. He didn’t want Dan to know about the phone call, not yet. “I know the others go in quarantine.”

 “What?!” Dan exclaimed.

 “It’s not true, Dan.” Phil tried to assure him.

 “I’ll go tell the others-” Dan started.

 “You don’t have to!”

 “Of course I do!”

“Dan, forget them! We’re on our own!” Phil yelled. Dan’s eyes began to water.

“No. I won’t forget them.”

“Dan-”

 “Here! Over here!” The drunk man called, running over to a figure in the distance. The figure was wearing a military uniform. Dan and Phil jumped at the sudden noise. “Please help!” The man yelled, still running to the figure.

 “Dan, stay right here.” Phil ordered. Phil began to run towards the figure as well.  


 

 

  PJ kept his arm around Sophie the entire way down the escalator. As they were nearing the halfway point, he noticed around seventy-five men in army uniforms facing their backs to the escalators.

 They were all twitching uncontrollably.

   PJ immediately knew something was wrong and hopped over the railing, carrying Sophie over his shoulders. She screamed, causing one of the military men to turn around. He was one of the creatures. He snarled loudly, alerting the other men. Each one turned around to reveal they too were infected.

   All at once, the infected army men came barrelling up the stairs. Everyone screamed and ran, a few were taken and bitten. A woman let out an animalistic scream in pain as her shoulder was broken off by one of them. Another man cried out a gurgling yell as one ripped the skin off of his throat. Soon, the woman with the broken shoulder had her eyes roll in the back of her head, them turning a light gray. The same happened with the man and everyone else who was attacked. People ran as much as they could up an escalator that was going down, including PJ and Sophie, who were ahead of most but still fearing for their lives. Once these army men infected just a few, there were soon hundreds of them.

 “GO BACK UP! GO, GO!” Sive yelled at the rest of the band, who immediately raced up the steps. Zoe tripped, causing Joe to quickly pick her up and run with her. Caspar, William, and Marcus were at the top of the escalator, and immediately ran the other way when they realized what was happening.

 All those military men that were deployed to ensure the passengers’ safety…

 They were now everyone’s most terrifying opponents.

 


	5. Four

**CHAPTER FOUR**  

  The drunk man was still running as fast as he could to the man in the uniform, as well as Phil. Phil picked up his phone and began to dial Hazel as he ran. Dan stayed behind, still wrapping his head around their entire situation.

“Philip, sir!” She exclaimed as soon as she picked up the phone.

“I’m in Huddersfield.” Phil said, still running.

“Is everything okay there? I can’t contact my men!” She yelled. Phil stopped dead in his tracks.

“What?” He asked softly. Everything began to click in his head slowly. The figure that the drunk man was walking to finally noticed them, whipping his head around. He was infected.

  He snarled loudly, alerting some of the other creatures. All at once, around fifty others came running towards Phil and the drunk. Phil turned around and sprinted as fast as he could. He then noticed something - Dan.

  Dan was standing there, his eyes wide with fear as the mass of the creatures chased Phil. What Dan didn’t know is that they were behind him, too.

“DAN!” Phil screamed, sprinting even faster. It was no use, he couldn’t get there in time. Tears filled his eyes as Dan turned around, coming face to face with one of them. The creature spewing thick red blood from its mouth was inches away from Dan’s face.

  Someone punched the infected soldier as hard as they could, causing Dan to fall over to avoid it collapsing on him.

  It was a woman with brown eyes and olive skin. Loose strands of her long hair stuck to her face due to the sticky splattered blood. She grabbed Dan and helped him up. Dan’s eyes were cloudy, but he could barely see Sophie running as fast as she could with her pregnant stomach coming to get him. The woman who saved Dan was gone already, fighting off the same creature.

“Come on, hurry!” She grabbed his hand and ran with Dan, PJ soon joining them. He punched and kicked a few out of the way as they sprinted. All Dan could think of was Phil. Phil wasn’t with him right now. He could be dead.

  Brad and Ken held the door open, telling the non-infected people to hurry out of the waiting gate and onto the train platform. Marzia, Felix, Sean, and Sive were helping people out of there as well.

  Phil ran the same direction he saw Dan go, striking any of the infected soldiers that came near him. He finally reached the doors when one of the creatures tackled him to the floor. Its hands were pinning Phil’s shoulders down and its face was directly over Phil’s, spraying warm dark blood on his cheek. Phil had to think quick. He grabbed a thick book on the ground next to him, placing it in the bloody mouth above him. This wouldn’t save him, but it would buy him a few seconds.

“HURRY!” Brad screamed as Marzia helped three people out - a pregnant woman, another man, and the man she saved by punching one of the creatures earlier. As soon as the three of them got out, the band members and PJ slammed the glass doors shut.

  Phil could practically hear his own heart drop into his stomach as he saw the glass doors close. He was still holding the book in the creature’s mouth, but it was ready to give at any minute. Suddenly, a bag was placed over the creature’s head, causing it to become disoriented and take its hands off of Phil’s shoulders. Phil slid out from under it quickly, running towards the now locked doors. His eyes caught a glimpse of the people he was leaving behind - people that were being mutilated and turned into one of these.

  PJ sighed and opened the door. Phil still wasn’t there yet, having to battle through some of the other infected. He ran as fast as he could. The drunk man ran took the open door opportunity to run out. Phil realized it must have been him that put the bag over Phil’s attacker’s head.

“Asshole! RUN! COME ON!” PJ screamed. Twenty of them were chasing Phil at this point. Phil slid out just in time. The band members, Marzia, PJ, and Phil all pushed as hard as they could against the doors. It was no use, there had to be forty of them slamming against the doors now. PJ tried desperately to lock it, but it wouldn’t budge. Phil was terrified, but also miserable for the innocent people he and the others were leaving to die in there.

 

  

  Sophie ran with Dan and two other people who looked as if they were brother and sister. They looked outside the window near the escalator. People tried to get back in the train, not realizing they were opening the car door to the car filled with more of the infected. Eighty of them.

“Fuck.” Sophie whispered. The train conductor, a car attendant, and a businessman Sophie had seen earlier ran past them. The woman who Sophie had seen save Dan’s life ran past them with an elderly woman she was helping.

“OVER HERE!” The car attendant in the bright blue uniform screamed. People screamed and cried as they all piled up into a safe car. The conductor ran to the engine and peered behind him, waiting for more people to get on the train before he drove away.

“WHY AREN’T WE LEAVING YET?” William screamed, shaking Marcus violently. Marcus shoved William as hard as he could back into the train.

“There’s still more people!” Marcus screamed back. Sophie and Dan ran to the train along with Zoe and Joe. Suddenly, one of the creatures ran right between them. Zoe and Joe fell to the floor, separated by the infected. Sophie and Dan helped Zoe up, while Marcus to help Marzia help Joe up, running the opposite way.

“No, my sister!” Joe yelled. They ignored him and kept running. They climbed into a safe car, Marcus shutting the door just in time as three of the infected slammed their bodies against it. Sophie and Dan ran with Zoe into the nearest safe car they could find. Sophie began to slam the door when a hand reached out to stop it. Dan screamed, thinking it was one of the creatures.

“Me too!” The voice that belonged to the hand yelled. It was the drunk. Sophie opened the door slightly so the man could get on.

 

 

William grabbed Marcus by the collar and pinned him on the wall.

“How much longer?” He spat. “We’ve got to GO!”

“NO!” Marzia screamed. “My fiancé and friends aren’t here yet!”

“Those on board must survive!” William screamed and slapped Marzia hard across the face.

“Please!” She begged. William still had Marcus pinned. Marcus looked at Marzia with sorrow in his eyes.

“Conductor…” He began. “Please...deport.”

Marzia fell to the ground, practically ripping out chunks of her hair and sobbing violently. “NO!” she screamed over and over.

 

____________________________

  


  The lock finally clicked. PJ had locked the glass doors, but there was no point. The glass was cracking at the force. The band, Phil, and PJ began to sprint as fast as they could with the time that they had before the glass doors completely shattered. Out the window near the escalator, they noticed the conductor getting ready to depart. The guys heard loud, vicious snarling from behind them. The doors had shattered. The train began to move slowly.

“RUN FASTER!” Sean screamed. They reached the end of the steps when suddenly, Ken was tackled to the floor. Sive cried out, soon being tackled, too. It was too late, before the rest of the guys knew it, they were being bitten.

“We have to run!” Phil yelled, grabbing Felix’s wrist and gesturing to Sean and Brad.

“We can’t le-” Brad began before screaming out in pain as one of the creatures bit his leg.

“NO!” Felix screamed, Sean bursting into tears. They had just witnessed their best friends since kindergarten die a slow and painful death, only to be soon turned into a mindless walking corpse.

“We have to GO!” PJ yelled, running past them. Sean shook his head.

“No.” He whispered.

Sean was bitten in the head.


	6. Five

**CHAPTER FIVE**

  Felix, Phil, and PJ ran as fast as they could to try to catch up with the now speeding train. One of the car doors was open. Felix climbed in, Phil following right after. PJ was still behind. Not only were the hundreds of infected military soldiers chasing him, but the rabid and bloody versions of Sean, Brad, Ken, and Sive were chasing him as well. Felix couldn’t bring himself to watch.

  He couldn’t watch the only people in the world besides Marzia that he cared about be alive and dead at the same time. He couldn’t watch the guys that were once the little kids he jokingly told that he would “never leave” them. They had all dreamed of living the high life once the band was discovered, spending the rest of their lives together and never breaking the band up.

All of that was taken away from Felix in a matter of minutes.

  PJ continued to sprint as fast as he could, the infected band members catching up to him quickly. Phil dangled out of the car door, holding his hand out as far as he could. Phil finally grabbed a slight hold of PJ’s shirt collar, pulling PJ in closer. PJ took this opportunity to run as fast as humanly possible. He grabbed Phil’s shoulder and Phil pulled him all the way in.

All three of them had made it into the moving train to Manchester.

 

____________________________

 

“Control, Train 101 could not dock at Huddersfield due to outbreak.” Caspar said into the receiver. He heard static, then a voice.

“101, we will clear your route to Manchester. Control center, over.”

“Advise when you make contact with Manchester. 101, over.”

 

____________________________

 

  They had left him. Phil wasn’t there with Dan. Not that Dan could see, anyways. The train began to leave before Phil had even gotten out of the waiting gate. Everyone was silent - Dan, Sophie, the drunk man who had introduced himself as Alfie, and Zoe.

  Sophie began to speak when Alfie shushed her, pointing to the open door near the car to the right of them. It was filled with more of the infected. They looked over to the left car. More of them were filled in that one. One misstep and they will be on high alert. Everyone stayed perfectly still in the junction that connected the two zombie-infested cars. Dan noticed the two washrooms in the junction they were next to. Those doors had locks on them, which was safer than being out in the open. The only problem is they most definitely will make some type of noise walking over there. Still, they had a much better chance of survival by locking themselves in one of them. They could all fit.

  Sophie was the first to creep her way over there, Dan quickly following after her. Everyone’s heart was pounding so loudly, and with the amount of silence in the junction, Dan could hear it. Zoe followed after Dan, then Alfie. Sophie was the last one to get inside, making sure everyone had gotten in. She turned around to get in when one of the creatures snarled loudly behind her.

  She slammed the door but it was caught on the creature’s head. Its hand snaked its way in the washroom, grabbing Zoe’s arm and trying to force it in its mouth. Zoe pulled as hard as she could away from the creature, succeeding in doing so. But the creature’s head was still stuck in the door, hissing loudly. Sophie tried as hard as she could to shut it, but it was no use. By now, the creature’s loud hissing had alerted the others. More and more piled up near the first one, trying to get in.

Dan, Sophie, Alfie, and Zoe were trapped.

 

____________________________

 

“Attention everyone.” The conductor’s voice came over the loudspeaker. Marzia was still rocking back and forth, Joe trying his best to comfort her. A few other people were in the car as well. “For the safety of those on board, we won’t be making any stops. We’re heading straight for Manchester.”

  William shot up from his seat, snatching Marcus’ walkie from his hands. He turned a knob until he heard some sort of static. He hit the walkie over and over again until more static came out.

“Conductor, can you hear me?” He asked. There was a beat of silence.

“Go ahead.” The conductor said over the walkie.

“Were you able to contact Busan?”

“No. Busan’s communications are erratic.” The conductor answered. William shook with fear.

“Full speed, no matter what. Or we won’t get in. Understand?”

  Marzia’s phone began to ring. She jumped at the sudden blare of music, as well as the buzzing in her jacket. She fumbled with the pocket before pulling the phone out anxiously, revealing Felix’s contact name. She began to sob tears of joy, answering the call.

“I…” She said before giving Felix any time to say anything. “I thought you were _dead_.” She sobbed louder.

 

 

“I’m sorry.” Felix began to cry into one of the clothed seats. “No one...no one else made it.” He was bawling his eyes out, watching the memory of the infected soldier biting into Sean’s skull over and over again. “I’m sorry.”

  Phil rang Dan over and over. He wasn’t answering. Phil wanted to break down, but he kept faith. Dan couldn’t be dead. God, PLEASE let Dan be alive. Suddenly, he heard a recording of Dan screaming coming from PJ’s phone.

“Huh? Why are you answering? Where are you? Where is Sophie?”

“We’re in the train washroom!” Dan yelled. Phil ran over to PJ.

“Washroom? Which car?” PJ asked frantically.

“Car 13!” He heard Sophie scream in the background. “Get your ass over here!”

“Sophie!” PJ yelled, but the call hung up.

“Was that Dan? Is he okay?” Phil asked, breathing heavily.

“Washroom, Car 13.” PJ answered. Phil nodded.

“I heard that.” They both sighed. They were in Car 9, and the cars leading up to 13 were infested. PJ immediately shook his head at Phil, who was obviously looking for a way to survive the rescue.

“Let’s say you got through and rescued them,” PJ began, “how do you get back?” He asked. Phil was silent.

“In Car 15...” Felix said from the back of the car. The car only contained the three of them. “In Car 15, people are gathered there.” Felix sighed. “We could go there instead.”

  PJ and Phil looked at Felix, then at each other. Was this actually happening? Phil had a sickening feeling he would die in the first minute. PJ began to take off his jacket.

“Only four cars away…” He muttered. “I’ll lead.” He looked at Felix and pointed to him. “You in the middle.” He turned to Phil. “and you in the back. Block anyone attacking from the rear.”

  The train car suddenly almost went completely dark except for the overhead lights above them. The train had entered a tunnel, which was normal. Though Phil realized if the train was going to enter multiple tunnels, it would be add on top of the already impossible challenge of navigating around these creatures. Hopefully they had a hard time seeing him in the dark.

“I hear you’re a fund manager.” PJ said as he grabbed a bass guitar from the overhead compartment. It was Sive’s guitar. Felix decided that PJ had a good idea and grabbed his guitar as well. “You’re clearly an expert on leaving useless people behind.” PJ tossed Phil Ken’s microphone, which was heavy and could easily be as useful of a weapon as the guitars. Phil decided not to argue with PJ.

“We should wait until we exit the tunnel.” Phil said instead of arguing. PJ nodded, and Felix breathed loudly. Soon, light filled the train again and they were now out of the tunnel. They walked slowly out of Car 9 and into the junction that connected 9 and 10. Immediately, one of the creatures turned around and saw them through the glass.

“Let’s go.” PJ said, opening the glass door to Car 10.


	7. Six

**CHAPTER SIX**

  PJ slammed his knee into the first infected person that ran up to him, knocking the creature into one of the seats. He punched two more of them hard in the face, knocking them down as well. Phil grabbed the first one’s head and slammed it onto the window, praying the glass wouldn’t break. It didn’t, but the creature was once again knocked to the ground. Felix swung his guitar as hard as he could, clubbing the zombie that had somehow managed to get underneath him. Phil held the one of their heads in its arms and snapped its neck with all his strength.

  Felix quickly grabbed a heavy suitcase from the overhead compartment and chucked it as hard as he could to the two zombies coming in from the left, crushing them both. Phil wrapped one of their arms in a sweater, covering his hands in fear of them getting bitten. He cringed at the feeling of snapping the zombie’s arm in half, the bones of the creature crunching under Phil’s palms. It shrieked in pain and sprayed hot blood onto Phil’s face. Phil kicked it away just in time, following PJ and Felix out of Car 10 and slamming the door shut.

The creatures piled up onto the glass door, slamming their hands on it repeatedly. Felix tried desperately to find something to barricade it with.

“Fuck it, just help me lock the door!” PJ yelled at him.

“That won’t be enough!” Phil chimed in. PJ glared at Phil.

“I didn’t ASK, fucking help me!” PJ screamed. The guys helped PJ to lock it, running into Car 11 when they did.

  This one wasn’t filled with nearly as many as the last, maybe only four or five. Still, these seemed to be more powerful and put up more of a fight than the others. Felix tried what Phil had done earlier, holding one of their heads in his hands and snapping its neck. Felix was shocked at how brittle their bones were - they felt _rotten_.

  There were two more left to go when all of a sudden, the train went completely dark. They were entering a tunnel. Phil swore loudly. He was sure this was the end. But something happened.

The creatures were no longer rabid. They were quiet, no more shrieking and hissing. They twitched uncontrollably. It all came clear to Phil at once.

They don’t understand darkness. They can’t see in the dark.

They’re _afraid_ of the dark.

  The guys took this opportunity to silently sneak away, careful not to make a sound or hint that they were there. They quietly shut the glass door, now in the junction between Car 11 and 12. Phil panted heavily. The infected being afraid of the dark could serve as a huge advantage to the guys, if they were smart about it. Phil was certain they could still find them if they made enough noise. They crouched down in the junction, hiding behind things as to not let the creatures see them through the glass when the train exited the tunnel. Blood smeared all over this junction, sticky pools of it were all over the floor. PJ didn’t seem to care and crouched down right in one.

“They stopped once we entered the tunnel, right?” PJ said, breaking the silence of panting and heavy breathing between the three of them.

“Because of darkness.” Felix added. “Uhm, obviously.” He said, more to himself than the others. Phil looked over to Car 12, the last car before the Car 13 washroom. The last car before he could see Dan again.

“Shit.” Phil whispered as they exited the tunnel. Now that he could see Car 12, he could easily see that it was _packed_ with the infected. PJ shakily sighed, they were so close and yet he felt as if this car would be their match.

“There’s no way around it.” Felix said from behind Phil and PJ. “Let’s go.” He nudged Phil. Phil didn’t move.

“What?” PJ asked him.

“Give me your phone.” Phil said to PJ. PJ raised an eyebrow, but handed it to Phil regardless. Phil asked PJ what his number was, writing it down in his own phone. PJ and Felix were still unsure of what Phil was doing, but before they could ask any questions, the train entered another tunnel.

 Once again, the train went completely dark and Phil raced into Car 12, not giving the other two a warning. Phil quietly slid PJ’s phone completely to the opposite of the mass of infected passengers crowded into one area. They twitched, but stayed quiet and didn’t seem to notice Phil in the slightest. Phil stayed crouched with Felix and PJ underneath one of the seats, pulling out his own phone and calling PJ.

  Suddenly, PJ’s ringtone blared through the car and the entire mass of infected passengers screamed and hissed, running over to where Phil had thrown the phone and leaving the area that the guys needed to get to. They ran over to the door, using what little time they had before light entered the train again.

  They made their way over to the washroom. The train was still dark, but they knew where it was. They knocked on the door.

 

____________________________

 

  Sophie almost began to cry as she heard a knock on the door. It shocked her in multiple ways, one was that the group had figured out the darkness thing with the creatures, so they shouldn’t be after the group now that it was dark and two was...when they hell did they learn to politely _knock_? The door opened slightly. Whoever was on the other side was obviously skeptical about going in the washroom when they could hardly see.

  The door opened and Sophie immediately recognized who it was, throwing her arms around her husband and sobbing softly. Dan looked around PJ. Phil came into view. They made eye contact for a few seconds before Dan quietly burst into tears.

  Felix opened the door to the opposite washroom across from the one the others were in and motioned for the guys to enter. They nodded and tears continued to streak Dan’s face as he smiled brightly. Phil was _alive_.

The three entered the washroom just in time, the light flashing on their faces as soon as they slammed the door shut.

“Get that out of my face.” PJ said to Felix, shoving the neck of Felix’s guitar out of his face. PJ had broken Sive’s bass guitar while fighting in Car 11 before they found out about the darkness. But Felix’s guitar managed to survive it, along with Ken’s microphone that Phil barely used.

“Hey, asshole.” PJ nudged Phil. “Felt good seeing your husband, thanks to me? You grateful or what?”

“Why is your ringtone so tacky?” Phil answered quietly.

“What’s wrong with it?” PJ answered defensively. “How do I change it?” He whispered. Felix let out a small laugh. PJ was about to yell at Felix before Phil started muttering to himself.

“Six miles away, at 186 mph…” Phil whispered.

“What?” Felix asked. Phil showed them both his phone.

“Two minutes. The upcoming tunnel gives us two minutes. Can we do it?” He asked. PJ sighed.

“We have to.”

“If we miss this one, there’s another in about two miles.” Felix pointed out on Phil’s phone. They nodded.

“Text all of this to Sophie.” PJ gestured towards the washroom across from them. Phil handed his phone to PJ for him to input her number.

“Wait.” Felix said. He let PJ text everything to Sophie, then took the phone from him.

“I need to text somebody else, too.”

 

____________________________

 

  Marzia jumped at the sudden buzz in her pocket, her heart immediately racing as she realized what that meant.

FELIX:  
_heading over now_

She cried and held her phone to her heart. She shot up from her seat and ran over to Marcus and William, who were staring out of the window blankly.

“People are coming! My fiancé is bringing them!” She said. Marcus’ eyes widened.

“What?”

“My fiancé and some other survivors from the other car are coming over here!”

“Who’s coming?” William asked.

“My fiancé. He was in Car 9. He rescued some people.” She said with tears in her eyes. She was going to see Felix again.

“Rescued?” William said through gritted teeth. “From there...to...here...passing through those monsters?” He asked, raising his voice. Marzia’s smile faded. William turned to her. “No injuries?” He yelled.

“You...have to be SURE they’re not infected.” Marcus placed a hand on Marzia’s shoulder.

“ARE YOU FUCKING SURE?” William screamed in her face. She began to cry softly.

“What...what do you mean?” She said, her voice breaking.

“Look, look at them.” William gestured towards the other twelve people gathered in Car 15. “Right this moment, no one knows what’s happened to their families. “And we don’t even know if your damn “survivors” are actually infected!” He yelled. “But you think we’re letting them in here?”

  People began muttering to themselves, some grabbing a hold of others. “I don’t believe this.” Marzia heard one of them say. She turned to Marcus, who had a blank expression on his face.

“Sir…” She whispered, tears falling rapidly. “Please say something. They’ll…” She sobbed. “They’ll be here soon.”


	8. Seven

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

  The train became dark once more, entering another tunnel. PJ opened the door slightly, careful not to make a sound that could distracted the creatures. They were twitching and quiet, like they normally were in the dark. None of them were facing the survivors, so PJ got out of the washroom, Phil following him and Felix staying inside in case they needed to retreat back. PJ opened the washroom door across from them and got out Sophie, Dan, Alfie, and Zoe. Phil grabbed Dan and pulled him in close. Even though it was dark, Phil could see the love in Dan’s eyes as they finally reunited. They couldn’t speak in fear of alerting one of the infected, so Dan quietly sobbed into Phil’s chest. Phil kissed his forehead.

  Around thirty seconds later, everyone was crawling in the overhead compartments. They only had less than a minute left to get back down on the ground and into the next washroom. Everyone’s heart was beating loudly - one fuck up and it was game over. Phil’s heart stopped when he saw what was in front of him in the compartment...someone’s luggage. He didn’t know what to with it - he couldn’t throw it down and he couldn’t take it with him because it was so big. He sighed and grabbed it, chucking it the opposite direction of where they were headed. The herd raced over to where the loud thud had occurred, snarling loudly.

Phil was the first to get down, grabbing a hole of Dan’s arm and helping him down as well. PJ was in the opposite overhead compartment, trying his best to carry Sophie off without alerting the already distracted zombies. Zoe followed after Dan and Phil, the boys trying their best to help her down. Felix and Alfie were the last to get down. PJ quietly opened the door to the next junction, motioning for everyone to enter. One by one they hurried in, PJ holding the door open.

  They realized Alfie had not yet gotten down, and once they saw him he was already falling. He made a loud thud, alerting a few of the creatures. Dan went to go help him but Phil tightly held his grip on Dan. None of the zombies went over to Alfie, they just turned around at the nose and went back to quietly twitching. They couldn’t see him in the dark. Still, everyone was pissed at the lunatic. Alfie was still on the floor, struggling to get up. Phil sighed and ran over to him, quickly helping him up. Dan’s heart was beating wildly.

A blast of light filled the car.

  Phil and Alfie were still in the car as every zombie turned around and hissed, blood spraying from their mouths. Phil acted quickly and pushed Alfie as hard as he could into the row of seats opposite from him. Alfie laid down, as did Phil, not moving a muscle. One of the zombies was very close now, making its way down the aisle. It snarled and looked around, still not seeing Phil and Alfie crouched down in the seats below him. It turned around, going back to the rest of the herd. None were facing the two now, and Phil looked over to see PJ crouched down in the seat right in front of the washroom.

“Get over here!” PJ mouthed. Phil looked over to Alfie. Phil held up the number three with his hand, indicating on the count of three, they were getting the hell out of there.

“One.” Phil mouthed. Alfie shook his head. Phil glared at him, but didn’t care at this point. If this drunk wanted to stay there, so be it. But Phil was getting out. “Two.” He whispered, still piercing his cold blue eyes into Alfie.

  Before Phil could say “three”, Alfie took a step forward, crushing a can of soda in front of him. Phil’s eyes widened at the sudden loud noise, Alfie swore to himself under his breath. The creatures screeched and hissed.

“Run!” Phil screamed, jumping out from the seat and sprinting to the door. The zombies trailed right behind them, limbs flailing and reaching out for the two.

  They made it out somewhat in time, one zombie getting its head stuck in the door. PJ tried his best to shut the sliding door, but it was no use. That zombie was not getting out. Still, PJ had no choice but to try and close it. The rest of them ran through the empty Car 14, Sophie staying behind.

“Marzia! Marzia!” Felix pounded on the door. If they could get in Car 15, PJ could just book it and let go of the door, as long as he ran for his life.

“Hurry the hell up!” PJ screamed. Phil shoved Felix out of the way and began desperately trying to open the door. Felix frantically fumbled with his phone and dialed Marzia’s number with trembling hands.

 

____________________________

 

“Hey! Open this door!” Marzia heard Felix’s voice from the other side of the door. All she could do was stare at the items of clothing tied tightly around the lock, making it impossible to open the door. Tears fell rapidly from her eyes until her vision was completely crowded. She tried to scream but it was no use.

  Marcus had one arm around her neck, keeping her grounded in place. He had the other over her mouth, making sure she could breath but not speak. She thrashed around violently, but eventually gave up and just cried. Her phone rang on the ground, Felix’s smiling picture coming up with his name. She cried louder upon seeing his face on her phone, knowing he was trying to reach her. She began to thrash around again. William saw what was happening and stomped his foot on the phone, shattering it. She lurched forward, desperately trying to attack William. She had never been this angry in her life. She could _kill_ him. She was ready to snap his neck, if only Marcus would let her go.

 

____________________________

 

  Phil gave up trying to open the door and ran over to PJ, trying to help to close the door with the zombie’s head in it. By now, there were multiple zombie hands protruding through the door, thrashing about aimlessly. Phil still held onto the guitar neck he had in Car 9 and slammed it onto the zombie’s head as hard as he could. He hit it over and over again, and still nothing. It still kept its head in the door. He tried a different approach, trying to force some of the hands back in with the guitar neck. He rammed it against multiple hands, not really getting anywhere.

“Open it now!” PJ screamed.

“It won’t!” Felix yelled, still trying to get it open.

“Smash it!” Phil yelled, tossing the guitar neck to him. Felix nodded.

“Stand back!” Felix yelled at Zoe and Alfie. He slammed it on the glass. It wouldn’t budge. He did it over and over again until he became impatient and started crashing it down onto the door rapidly, screaming his lungs out as he did so. The door still didn’t crack.

“Hurry up!” Phil screamed. PJ could no longer hold the door from the end and placed his hand near the zombie who had its head sticking out the door. He desperately tried to close the door that way, but before he could get too far, the zombie sunk its teeth into PJ’s hand. Phil kicked it’s head as hard as he could, but it was too late.

PJ had been bitten.

  Sophie screamed at the top of her lungs, bursting into tears. PJ shut his eyes tight, wincing at the extreme pain shooting up his entire arm. Sophie ran over to him but he shoved her away.

  Felix continued slamming the guitar neck as hard as he could on the door, not giving up. Marzia was behind that door, and there was no way in hell he was going to give up on a chance to see her. Finally, the door began to crack. It shattered completely, revealing the Car 15 junction. Felix ran as fast as he could, but William was faster. He closed the door on Felix’s arm. Felix screamed at the pain in his bicep, still desperately flailing his arm and trying to open the door. William used all his strength to keep it from opening. Three other people joined William. Felix was certain his arm was going to be sliced clean off.

  Joe peered over his shoulder to see Zoe behind Felix, looking down at the ground and crying. His eyes widened and his heart stopped. He was sure she was dead. He shot up from his seat and made his way through the chaos that was people screaming in the car. He passed Marcus holding Marzia and a few other screaming passengers before getting to everyone who was closing the door on Felix. Marzia inhaled deeply through her nose, then bit down on Marcus’ hand with all of her strength. He let go of her in pain and she sprinted to the door. She and Joe tried to shove off everyone closing the door, trying to help Felix in opening it.

 

____________________________

 

  Dan’s eyes watered when he saw what had happened to PJ. It was stupid and naive of him to think that everyone was going to make it, but PJ was definitely someone Dan was hoping for. He had saved multiple people’s lives and didn’t deserve this fate.

  Phil’s heart began to sink as the door holding the creatures back began to crack. Not rapidly, but it was cracking. Sophie slowly began to walk back to PJ, still trembling and sobbing.

“Stay back!” PJ screamed. She shook her head, still crying. She placed a hand on her pregnant stomach. “Stay back, Sophie. Please go.” He said, softer this time. She just stood there, sobbing. PJ turned to Phil. “Buddy, hey!” He said. Phil was still trying to get the hands out of the door. He turned to PJ. “Take her and get out.” PJ said. “You have to go.”

“NO!” Sophie screamed, wrapping her arms around PJ. He pried her off of him, starting to cry. He still kept his arms on the door. “I’m getting tired.” He told Phil and Sophie. “Please...go…” He said, turning solely to Phil. “Take care of her, okay?” He told him. Phil breathed in slowly and nodded.

  He let go of the door, grabbing Sophie’s arm and yanked her as hard as he could away from PJ. She eventually gave up and began running with him. She couldn’t see where she was going due to the tears clouding her eyes, but she could hear PJ shouting something.

“Eleanor!” He yelled. She turned her head. He was still holding them off, the door breaking any second now. “Our baby girl. That’s her name.” He said. Sophie sobbed loudly, nodding her head.

 


	9. Eight

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

  The glass door shattered into pieces, the creatures crawling out. Sophie screamed, and Phil ran with her as fast as they could. Sophie couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that PJ was gone, that she had left him behind. That Eleanor had lost her father. She tried her best to drown out the sounds of PJ screaming as he was mutilated, trying his best to fight the inevitable start of becoming one of them. He was crying as the purple veins started shooting up his body, thinking about Sophie and Eleanor. He had lost his girls, and his girls had lost him.

  William kept his grip on the door, along with several other passengers. Joe and Marzia tried desperately to fight the passengers off, barely making their way to the door. It was no use, too many people were closing the door. When Phil and Sophie reached the door, Sophie used every bit of strength she had to open it.

  It slid right open, knocking a few passengers down. Many were in shock at how easily Sophie had opened the door. She refused to see her husband as one of those creatures. Alfie ran inside with Felix. Phil grabbed Dan and Sophie and began to run. Phil’s heart stopped as he realized something - Zoe. He looked back at her. She wasn’t moving. She had given up. Dan screamed her name, but she just shook her head. Joe could see her through a few passengers. Tears filled his eyes. He tried to scream out his sister’s name, but nothing came out. The infected passengers were right behind her now. 

  Zoe closed her eyes, knowing what was coming next. It wasn’t just her giving up, she was giving herself up as a sacrifice so Phil, Dan, and Sophie could run inside. Joe realized this soon and began to cry.

“No.” He whispered. Tears blocked his vision, but he could still hear Zoe’s haunting scream as she was bitten in the shoulder. Phil, Dan, and Sophie ran inside and slammed the door just in time. One of the creatures smashed into the door as it was closed, making a loud “thud” sound.

  They didn’t know how to work the door, so Phil just left it there. People huddled in the back of the car, not daring to go near Phil, Dan, Sophie, Felix, or Alfie. Except for Marzia, who jumped into Felix’s arms and they both cried. 

  Phil looked at William and inched closer to him. William flinched, scared Phil was infected. Phil grabbed William by the collar and punched him as hard as he could, knocking William into the wall. People screamed. Dan tried to pull Phil away before William got up. But Phil was stronger. He let go of Dan’s grip and pulled William up by the collar once more.

“WHY DID YOU DO IT?!” He screamed in his face. “YOU BASTARD!” He said, still raising his voice and gripping his collar. Phil overpowered William, so the older man couldn’t do much but be screamed at. “We could have saved them!” He said through gritted teeth, seething with anger at the thought of losing both Zoe and PJ to this jerk. Phil was shaking as his hands were still around William’s neck. “WHY?” He screamed loudly. William was silent for a little bit.

“He’s infected!” William yelled. People gasped. Phil furrowed his brows, confused. These people couldn’t possible believe he was infected, right? “He’s one of them!” William screamed and Phil rolled his eyes, letting go of William. 

  William ran to the other passengers huddled in the back who were watching everything unfold. Phil shook his head at him, this guy was a cold-hearted motherfucker AND a lunatic. At least Alfie showed compassion as insane as he was.

“Look at his eyes!” William said. Phil raised an eyebrow, looking the scared passengers in the eyes so they could see his  _ blue _ , perfectly  _ normal _ eyes. “Do you all want to DIE?” William screamed, holding the passengers back as if he were a hero. “We have to throw them out!” He turned to Marcus, who was silent this entire time. William slugged him and he jumped.

“Those...those of you who just got here…” Marcus began. Dan and Sophie looked at each other, they couldn’t believe what was happening. It was so obvious they  _ weren’t  _ infected! “I don’t think you can stay with us.” Marcus continued. “Please move to the junction.” 

  They looked around at the passengers. They all had fear in their eyes, as if Dan, Sophie, Alfie, Phil, and Felix were going to turn any minute. They began slowly moving to the junction. It was the end of the train, there was no other car connecting. Marzia clung to Felix, going with them.

“It’ll be safer for you here. Please stay.” Felix told her. She shook her head.

“No.” She said sternly. “ _ No. _ It’s you and me now.” She said as they closed the door to the car. Dan sighed and fell to the floor, leaning against the door of the junction washroom.

  Joe sat down near the door to Car 14, looking at the creatures. Their hissing was muffled, but he could hear it. Everyone else was far away from that door, scared to look at them. But Joe didn’t care. Joe didn’t care about anything anymore. His sister had given her life to save people she didn’t even know. Zoe was gone.

“You idiot.” Joe whispered. “Always helping others before yourself.” He said, voice breaking. He looked past the rabid PJ, who was spewing blood all over the door. Behind him was Zoe. She was somehow different than the rest.

  Her eyes were light gray, there was no doubt that she was one of them. But she wasn’t twitching and shrieking like the rest of them. She just looked...lost. Purple veins covered her cheeks and forehead. She had a sad look to her, like she had just lost a game at a carnival. “Why’d you have to do that?” Joe whispered. “What was the point?”

  Joe looked behind him at the people huddling together, proud that they had gotten rid of the potentially infected. 

“What a load of shit.” He sighed and made his way to the door that kept out the infected. He was going to do it. There was no point in not, seeing that the people Zoe had saved weren’t in the car. They would live, so at least she died for something. But these people deserved to go. They killed his sister.

 Joe put his hand on the glass where the infected Zoe was. The look on her face became even sadder. He smiled at her. She was still his sister, she would always be. He began to cry.

“Thank you.” He said, his voice cracking. “For everything.”

“That man!” Joe heard William yell. “Stop him!” 

  
But it was too late. Joe had opened the door.


	10. Nine

**CHAPTER NINE**

  Blood splattered the glass door, causing everyone in the junction to jump back. Bodies thudded against the door, animalistic screams of pain rang in the junction air even though the door was tightly shut. Felix grabbed Marzia’s shoulders, bringing her away from the loudness that was the human bodies crashing against the closed door. They couldn’t see much, the glass was very blurry. But they knew what was happening. The door that blocked off the creatures had opened. If Dan, Phil, Marzia, Felix, Sophie, and Alfie hadn’t been shunned into the junction, they would be dead or turned right now.

  Sophie looked at the blurry figures screaming out in pain and heard the wet, disturbing noises of their mutilation. Tears kept streaming out of her eyes as she knew that her husband was one of them now. That right now, he’s causing someone’s piercing shriek of pain. She shut her eyes tightly, trying desperately not to think about it.

 

“Control, this is Manchester-bound 101!” Caspar shouted into the receiver. “Requesting current situation in Manchester, over.” He listened for a response, but got nothing but a voice covered in static. “Control!” He shouted. “Control!” He hung up, frustrated and with tears in his eyes. For all he knew, everyone could be dead back there.

 

 

  Phil stared out of the window, knowing they were nearing Manchester. He pleaded that it would be safe there, that Louise was okay. He tore his eyes away from the window and focused them on Dan, who was sitting on the floor of the junction with his knees to his chest in a fetal position. Phil’s heart sunk as he had a horrible realization. He sat himself next to Dan.

“It’s our anniversary.” Phil said quietly. Dan looked up from his knees. Phil took his hand. “Don’t worry.” Phil assured him. “We will get to Louise, no matter what.”

“Aren’t you scared?” Dan said, his voice breaking. Phil took a deep breath.

“Of course I am.” Phil whispered. “I’m terrified, Dan.”

“I was-” Dan began to cry softly, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. “I was so scared.” He cried. “I thought I would never see you again. I’d never get to hear you sing to me ever again. My favorite song.” Dan cried a little louder. “I thought I would never hear it again.” The words hung in Dan's head. _You are my sunshine..._ Tears fell rapidly from Dan’s eyes. Phil pulled him into his chest, and Dan cried harder there.

  


“Yes, Hazel?” Phil answered his phone in the washroom.

“Have you arrived in Manchester?” She said rather softly.

“Not yet. Where are you? Is it okay there?” Phil asked.

“Manchester succeeds in primary defense.”

“What? You sure?” He asked. “Where did you get that info?” He said. Hazel was silent for a little bit, then inhaled a shaky breath.

“Sir, this whole thing was started at Biotech.” She began to cry loudly. “The leak! There was a gas leak!” She blubbered. “It must have affected some kind of animal near the district, since we make sure everyone driving through there isn’t affected.” She sobbed. Phil was silent. “Sir!” She cried. “We had nothing to do with this, did we?” She frantically asked for validation. “We only did what we were told. Is this my fault?” She began to cry again.

“It’s…” Phil began. “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault, Hazel.” He said softly. Her voice was shaky and uneasy.

“Thank you.” She sniffled.

“Hazel…” Phil said. He looked down at his phone.

“Yes?” He heard her ask. Phil hung up.

  He looked at himself in the mirror. He was stained with blood. Head to toe, there was blood. He was sweaty and his black hair was a mess. He turned on the washroom faucet and began running his hands underneath it. There was no point in this, he just wanted to feel the cool water against his skin. Phil had kept it together all day, but he was broken at this point. He began to cry softly, wondering why the _fuck_ did this have to happen to him? Phil’s hands were shaking as he pulled them out from under the running water. He turned the faucet off and took a deep breath, trying to stop crying. Suddenly, the train began to slow down dramatically and he crashed against the wall due to the sudden change.

  Marzia clung onto a random suitcase in the junction as the train began to slow down. Sophie held onto something as well, not caring what it was and having her eyes only slightly open. Phil ran back into the junction as he saw Dan head over to the washroom. Phil wrapped his arms around him tightly.

 

  Caspar swore loudly as he saw what was ahead of him. Thick black smoke mostly clouded the window, but it was clear enough what was in front of the train - another train. A train that had already crashed on the tracks in front of him. It was on its side, horizontally blocking Train 101.

 

 _“Attention, please.”_ The people in the junction overheard on the loudspeaker. _“Due to a track blockage, we have stopped near Bolton station. We will be waiting for the rescue team, or disembarking for another train to Manchester. When this announcement is concluded,”_ He continued. William and Marcus were sat in the washroom, the door shut tight. They had made it, but no one else had. _“I will find a working train and put it on the far left track.”_ Caspar said.

“What’s going on?” William whispered, more to himself than to Marcus. He made sure not to make too much noise in fear of alerting the infected right outside the washroom door.

 _“I repeat, far left track. To anyone still alive, please transfer safely.”_ Caspar took a deep breath. _“Godspeed.”_


	11. Ten

**CHAPTER TEN**

  Caspar opened the door, stepping out reluctantly. He looked to see if any survivors had gotten out yet. No one was there. He ran to another train that was safely stopped near train 101. Caspar opened the door and looked inside. Immediately, he heard snarling and shrieking. This train was infected, too. The creatures noticed him and began to run towards him. Caspar ran as fast as he could out of the train, slamming the door shut. He saw their bloody mouths almost immediately thud against the door, trying to get out. The door window was now smudged entirely with bloody handprints.

  He noticed the indoor station up ahead. The trains in there couldn’t be infected. He began to run over to the station, hoping that at least some survivors will turn up somewhere.

  
  


“Philip.” Phil heard a voice say from behind him. It was Sophie. “Do you think there will actually be a rescue?” She asked. She had doubt in her voice and rubbed her pregnant stomach.

“I…” Phil began. “I heard Manchester is safe.” He assured her. “We have to move now.” He looked at everyone. One by one, everyone took each other’s hand. They were getting out of here together. Phil took Dan’s hand, Dan took Sophie’s, Sophie took Marzia’s, Marzia took Felix’s, and Felix reluctantly took Alfie’s. Phil took a deep breath and opened the door, peeking left and right to see if anything had gotten out. He couldn’t see anything, but he still wanted to hurry out.

  They hurried towards the station, passing by windows and windows of the creatures crowded around one another, pounding on the windows with their bloody palms.

  
  


  Caspar entered the vacant train and closed the door behind him. He sat in the conductor’s chair and began to start the train, driving it forward and out of the station. He hadn’t lost hope that there would be some survivors when he looked out there. So far, there was no one. But he kept his hopes up. That was until he stopped looking to the side of the train and looked in front of him. There was a train in front of him on different tracks. And it was engulfed in flames.

It wouldn’t hit him, but if there were any survivors left, they sure as hell wouldn’t survive this.

  
  
  


  William peered out of the crack in the washroom door. He and Marcus were still on the train, unable to get out of the washroom due to the creatures right outside their door. William had a plan, however.

  They twitched violently and snarled as they walked past the washroom door. Marcus was further into the washroom and couldn’t see anything, but William kept saying the coast wasn’t clear and Marcus wasn’t going to test that. Finally, William closed the door after his seventh check. Marcus took a deep breath.

“Coast clear?” He asked. William was silent. He looked Marcus in the eyes.

“Yes.” He spoke softly. There was certainty in his voice, and Marcus believed him. There was no reason for William to lie, right? Unless, in some crazy scenario, William said that so Marcus would go first, the creatures would attack him, and William would escape. Marcus felt a cold hand shove as hard as it could on his back and out of the door. Marcus looked around to see that the coast was nowhere near clear. And as he saw every infected passenger barrelling towards him, he could see in the corner of his eye William running away.

Maybe that “scenario” wasn’t so far-fetched after all.

  William ran as fast as he could, knowing there were many of the creatures behind him. He opened the train door and ran out, not closing it behind him and allowing the infected to escape the train out into the station.

  
  


  Phil held Dan and Sophie’s hand as they walked closer to the station. Felix couldn’t help but stare in horror at all of the creatures smashed up against the windows of the trains they were passing. Marzia grabbed him, turning his head away from the bloody windows. Dan noticed that the station was on the other side of the train they were walking by.

“We need to find a way to get to the other side.” Dan said. They looked to see if they could find an empty train car to pass through, but they were all filled with dozens of the monsters. Felix looked to another train and peered inside the window. The train car was completely empty.

“Over here!” Felix called. Before anyone could start to make their way over to him, the ground began to shake. They couldn’t see anything over the huge train in the way, but Marzia pointed to the insane amount of smoke making its way into the air. They heard a train getting closer on a separate set of tracks and saw flashes of fire on the opposite side of the train. A train was moving near them, and it was on fire.

  The flaming train rammed into the side of the train where everyone was near, causing it to tip over. Everyone moved out of the way and ducked in cover as the train fell over. Fire and smoke were everywhere, the sounds of glass shattering and explosions ringing through the air.

  Dan felt Phil tackle him to the ground, covering him. His ears began to ring and he drowned out the sounds of Sophie, Marzia, Alfie, and Felix screaming. It was just him and Phil right now. Dan could hardly breathe due to the smoke that was suffocating him. But he was alive.  
  


 

  Marzia cried out as she saw the pile of smoke and fire that was once a train. She and Felix couldn’t move any further, the crash had blocked their path. And the people they were with were gone. Marzia broke down crying, she thought everyone would make it. She thought they would all make it out of this alive. Felix grabbed her and helped her up.

“We have to move, Marzia. Come on!” He said as she took his hand and they both ran back the way they came. Maybe there was an empty train car that they had missed on another train.

  Felix looked around frantically and sure enough, there was an empty train car on the original train 101. Felix slammed the door open and climbed inside, helping Marzia in. He closed the door shut and they sighed. Marzia started to sob uncontrollably. Everything was too much.

  She was so excited this morning. She and Sean, who was Felix’s best man, planned on spending the train ride looking at more wedding venues. Sive and Brad were so excited for the wedding, and Ken was beyond ecstatic for his wife to be Marzia’s bridesmaid. Marzia always imagined the guys coming over to babysit her and Felix’s kids - and that they would all one day have kids of their own to go on playdates with Marzia and Felix’s. That was all ripped away from her. She didn’t even know if she and Felix were even going to make it.

  They both tried their hardest to open the door on the other side of the door. It wouldn’t budge. Felix told her to stand back as he grabbed a fire extinguisher and smashed it as hard as he could against the door window. Marzia watched him with her heart pounding. If they couldn’t get out of here, they were doomed.

  She was so concentrated on Felix that she hardly noticed the sound of another train car opening behind her. William ran to Marzia and grabbed a hold of her. She screamed at the top of her lungs. William threw her to the floor and Felix dropped the extinguisher, rushing towards her.

“Marzia!” He yelled. The creature that was chasing William tackled Marzia, biting her leg. “NO!” He screamed louder than he ever had before. William continued to bash the door window in while Felix fought with the creature attacking Marzia. Finally, Felix kicked it as hard as he could in the stomach and out of the train. He slammed the door shut. But it was too late.

  He knelt down to the love of his life. She was thrashing around wildly, trying desperately to fight off what was coming. But it was no use. Felix tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear with trembling fingers. Tears fell from his eyes as he softly kissed her lips.

“Marzia…” He whispered softly. “No…”

  Marzia’s twitching began to slow. William had finally bashed the glass window, scrambling out of it to the other side. Felix placed a finger under her chin as he pulled her in for another kiss. He cried harder. Purple veins spread all across her face and body and she screamed out in pain. Her eyes turned grey and she landed them on Felix.

  
“I love you.” He said as Marzia sunk her teeth into his shoulder.


	12. Eleven

**CHAPTER ELEVEN** **  
**

  Phil laid on the floor, eyes closed. Dan tried desperately to wake him up. Phil’s ears were ringing, but he could barely hear the sound of Dan’s voice screaming at him.

“Phil!” Dan screamed. “Phil, please wake up!” He sobbed. Phil’s eyes opened. He looked around to see Sophie and Alfie near him as well, but no sight of Felix and Marzia. Phil grabbed Dan and pulled him in tight. Dan was crying his eyes out into Phil’s chest.

  Sophie looked up and let out a gargled scream at the sight in front of her. The train was practically on top of them, propped up by a few rocks. The window of the train on top of them had hundreds of the infected passengers smashed up against it. They were towering over them, practically touching. If it weren’t for the glass, it would be over. There were hundreds, almost thousands of passengers this morning. And as much as they knew, there were only four survivors.

  Still, the glass didn’t guarantee safety. In fact, every second they could hear it crack more and more. The angle of the train caused the creatures to pile on top of one another, creating too much weight for the glass to support. Any minute now, the glass could break and the creatures would start spilling out. The survivors couldn’t leave, the train was still on top of them and there was no way out. Dan, Phil, Sophie, and Alfie were trapped.

  
  


  William got out to the other side of the tracks just as Caspar’s train pulled ahead. He felt hope bubble up inside him. Caspar noticed William running, four of the monsters chasing him. He couldn’t slow the train down and prayed that William would run faster.

“Come on!” Caspar screamed. William sprinted as fast as he could, but tripped over a rock and fell down. “Dammit.” Caspar whispered under his breath and ran off of the train to help William. As soon as he helped him up, William threw Caspar to the ground and ran to the train as the creatures piled up on top of Caspar.

  
  


  Phil let go of Dan as he looked underneath the train. He quickly realized that they could fit under there and get out, if they were fast enough. Phil tested it and sure enough, he made it out to the other side.

“Dan, come here!” Phil held his hand out underneath the train and Dan began to take it when a rock propping the train up slipped and caused the train to fall more, covering up the spot to climb out. Phil quickly retracted his hand and screamed. Sophie held onto Dan as Alfie hyperventilated. Phil was now on the other side, but no one else was. He tried as hard as he could to lift the train, but of course it was no use. Phil realized there was another way out - a rock that was blocking another space where the train hadn’t fallen.

  Sophie whimpered as the windows began to visibly crack, the monsters trying desperately to pound their way out. Suddenly, the window farthest from them burst open, a few infected passengers spilling out. Alfie stood up and yelled, running towards them.

“NO!” Dan screamed. Alfie knocked two of them down, fighting off the others.

  Phil strained harder than he ever had in his life before. Finally, the rock gave way and it tumbled away from the train.

“COME ON!” Phil screamed, holding his hand out once more.

“Go.” Alfie said as one of the creatures bit his neck, the other slicing his arm. He screamed in pain. Sophie winced at the haunting sound of his joints ripping apart.

  Dan took Phil’s hand and scrambled out, the boys then holding out their hands for Sophie. They heard the sound of the windows breaking one by one, hundreds of the creatures spilling out. They needed to move fast.

  Sophie screamed as she looked behind her to see dozens of the monsters climbing over the fallen train and beginning to chase them. She ran as fast as she could with a pregnant stomach, falling slightly behind Phil and Dan. Up ahead, she noticed the moving train.

“There!” She yelled, pointing to the train. Dan and Phil looked over to where she was pointing.

“Let’s GO!” Phil yelled, taking Sophie’s hand. There had to be nearly a thousand of the infected chasing them, and Sophie couldn’t stop looking behind her.

“Don’t look back!” Dan screamed. They were nearing the back of the moving train. Dan reached his arm out as far as he could, finally grabbing a hold of the guard rail. Sophie climbed on soon after. “Hurry, hurry!” Dan yelled, helping Sophie up. Phil continued running, finally grabbing on and climbing up. He got up just in time, one of the creatures grabbing a hold of the rail but not being able to climb up. The train dragged the zombie along, more of them starting to cling to the first.

  There was a gigantic pile-up starting to form, slowing the train down. If the three survivors could get the first monster to let go, the hundreds of them would also be gone. Phil tried desperately to kick their hands, not letting any part of him go near their mouths. The creatures wouldn’t budge, but Phil kept going. He could hear the bones in their hands and arms breaking as he stomped them into oblivion, but they still clung on.

  He tried one last time to stomp as hard as he could, the impact of his foot breaking the first creature’s hand clean off. One by one, like dominoes, they fell off. The train began to go faster again. Phil was breathing heavily as the train moved forward. Soon, the thousands of creatures began to go out of sight. Phil, Sophie, and Dan all let out a shaky exhale. It was over. This nightmare was finally over.

  Phil made his way over to the engine, hoping there was another survivor driving the train. He looked in the window to see a head in the conductor’s seat. He pleaded that it was a survivor and not one of the infected. As soon as he opened the door, the head turned around.

  It was the man who kept them out. The old businessman who, if it weren’t for him, PJ might still be alive. He introduced himself once as “William”. But this wasn’t him.

He was infected.


	13. Twelve

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

  He wasn’t like the rest of them. Not yet, anyway. He moved slowly and confused. Phil backed away, holding onto the guard rail. Dan held onto Sophie, not daring to make a sound.

“Mister…” William said, still inching closer to Phil. Phil kept moving backwards. “I’m scared.” He said. He sounded normal, but his looks said something else. Purple veins spread all over his body, his eyes a light grey. “Take me home.” William told Phil. William was twitching and breathing heavily.

“You…” Phil began. “You’re infected.” He said. William looked down at his hands, covered in veins. He shook his head.

“No…” William whispered. “No. No! NO!” He screamed, starting to cry. He hung his head, Suddenly, he looked up and snarled. He ran over to Phil. Dan screamed, starting to go to Phil but Sophie held him back. Phil wrapped his hands tightly around William’s neck, choking him as hard as he could and trying to throw him off the train. But William was just as strong as Phil. William hissed loudly. Phil felt hot liquid from William’s mouth spray across his face. William had knocked Phil down.

“PHIL!” Dan screamed. The infected William jumped at the sudden noise, turning his attention to the terrified Dan and Sophie. Phil’s heart began to thump in his ears. Dan and Sophie screamed in horror as the infected William ran towards them.

  Phil shot up and grabbed William’s leg, knocking both of them to the ground. William pinned Phil to the floor, attempting to bite his neck. But Phil kept his strength and held the rabid William’s shoulders above him. They were practically dangling off the side of the train when William suddenly let go.

  Sophie was desperately trying to pull him off of Phil, digging her nails into his shoulders. William turned around and began to attack Sophie, giving Phil time to get up. Phil put William in a chokehold, placing his other hand over William’s mouth in an attempt to keep him from biting Sophie.

William bit down on Phil’s hand.

  Dan couldn’t begin to describe what happened. Dan just broke. He could hardly hear himself screaming, though he knew he was because his throat began to get sore. His ears were ringing and everything in his world fell apart. Phil had been bitten. There was no point in denying it. Dan was broken.

  Things began to become blurry as a rush of tears filled Dan’s eyes. He could start to hear himself scream a bit more, even if the ringing in his ears was still there. The sickening sound of his own sobs just made him cry harder. He tried to call out Phil’s name, but he couldn’t control his sobs and screaming.

  Phil finally pried William’s mouth off of his hand, throwing him off the train and William’s body making a loud “thud” sound. Phil breathed heavily, staring down at the bloody open bite wound on his hand. Phil was gone.

  He looked over to Dan, who was being held tightly by Sophie. He was screaming and sobbing his eyes out. Dan knew what had happened. Phil’s heart shattered not only at the sight of the broken Dan, but at the shimmer of gold dangling from his neck.

The locket.

  After all of this, the locket had stayed there. It seemed nearly impossible, but there it was. The locket that contained the picture that Dan loved so much. That special one on their wedding day, when nothing else mattered but the two of them. Phil ran into the engine room, taking a hold of Dan’s hand.

“Dan, sit here.” He said frantically, putting Dan down in the train conductor’s chair. He was panting and moving quickly, knowing he didn’t have much time left. He took Sophie’s hand and brought her in the engine room as well. “Listen to me.” He panted. “Pay attention, please. This must be the brake.” He pointed to a lever in front of them. “When it’s safe, pull this. Got it?” Phil’s heart was racing, hoping he wouldn’t turn while in the same room as Sophie and Dan.

  He looked over at his husband, tears streaming down both of their faces. Dan wasn’t screaming anymore, but he was still shattered.

“Love,” Phil began, grabbing a hold of Dan’s face with both hands. “Look at me, Daniel. It’s okay.” He panted. Dan was shaking his head rapidly, his eyes on the floor. “Look at me, love.” Phil pleaded. “Daniel, listen to me. Stay with her.” He breathed heavily. “No matter what. It’ll be safe in Manchester.”

“Don’t go!” Dan let out a guttural scream. “Philip, don’t go…” He sobbed, holding tightly onto Phil’s hand. “Don’t go...please.” Dan repeated, tracing his thumb over Phil’s palm. “Stay with me, please!” Dan screamed. “Please don’t go.” He continued to sob. Phil began to cry.

  Phil took a hold of Dan’s sleeve with the hand that Dan wasn’t desperately holding onto. He was screaming “don’t go!” over and over again. Phil felt hot tears falling rapidly down his face as he knew what he had to do next.

“I love you, Daniel.” Phil whispered. He pried Dan’s hand off of his and sprinted out of the door. He heard his husband scream his name at the top of his lungs as he ran. Phil slammed the engine room door behind him. He caught a glimpse of the inside.

  Dan was screaming and thrashing wildly, Sophie desperately trying to grab a hold of him. She held Dan tightly, allowing Phil to make his way to the back of the train. Dan slammed on the door repeatedly, his screams echoing in Phil’s ears.

  Phil sobbed quietly once he reached the back of the train, noticing purple veins slowly making their way up his arms. He closed his eyes and there was a bright flash.

  A garden, not just any garden. It was the day of the wedding. Louise was there. Friends from work, too. He and Dan were outside taking pictures. But they didn’t care about the pictures. Just each other. Dan giggled hysterically as Phil peppered his cheek in kisses. They heard the shutter of a camera, and Phil opened his eyes. He was still in the back of the train, but his vision had gone grey. The grey eyes.

  He closed them once more, and he was in the living room. Dan was next to him, and they were looking through their wedding photo album. Dan looked through the pictures in awe, his eyes lighting up when he saw one of the pictures.

“Look, that’s the one! That one’s my favorite, Phil!” He said. Phil draped an arm around his husband. The picture was of Dan in the middle of a giggle fit as Phil kissed his cheek. It was one of Phil’s favorites, too. Phil looked into Dan’s eyes, then at the guitar in the corner.

He began to play.

_You are my sunshine_

_My only sunshine_

Phil opened his eyes once more. He couldn’t stay on this train. Any minute now, he would go rabid. He smiled at the memories in his head, wishing he could go back.

Phil stepped off of the moving train. Everything went black.

  
  
  


  Sophie knew the train would reach Manchester at any minute now. She was no longer holding onto Dan. He was on the floor with his head in his knees. He hadn’t said a word. Sophie was sat in the driver’s seat. She had offered it to Dan, but he ignored her. It had been an hour since everything had happened. Dan had obviously “calmed down” physically, but Sophie knew the battle that was going on in his head.

  It had occurred to her that she was finally alone with her thoughts. When she had lost PJ, she didn’t have time to think. Now, it was all she could think about. She rubbed her hand along her stomach, coaxing Eleanor. PJ was gone. Everyone was gone.

  This morning seemed like months - almost years ago. With the thousand passengers on board along with her, she couldn’t even begin to wrap her head around the fact that two people had survived. And that she was one of them. There were a million thoughts swarming through her head that she began to softly cry. She was overwhelmed - and she had lost everything.

  Dan, on the other hand, was the opposite. He couldn’t think of anything other than Phil. He was gone, and Dan would never get him back. No matter how much he screamed or cried about it. He breathed in and out shakily, still nowhere near “okay”.

  Sophie looked ahead and her heart dropped. Fire and pieces of what was once a train blocked the entrance to a tunnel. She quickly pulled the brake, snapping Dan out of his thoughts. They climbed out of the train. Dan stumbled out first, shaking and breathing heavily. His face was blotchy and sticky from tears. He took Sophie’s hand and helped her out.

  They made their way towards the tunnel, maneuvering their way around the fire and rubble. Once they were inside the tunnel, there was no more fire. Sophie stumbled and panted, holding tightly onto her stomach. Being pregnant did not make movement easy, especially after what she had just ensued. Dan gripped her arm tightly, helping her along the way. The tunnel was dark, too dark for either of them to see very clearly. They knew where the end of it was, which seemed like miles away.

 

 

“Look.” One of the military soldiers said to another. He peered through his binoculars, nudging his comrade. His comrade took a hold of the machine gun in front of him, closing one eye and looking through the gun’s sight. He could barely see two walking figures at the end of the tunnel. He pulled out his walkie.

“Two figures approaching from the tunnel. Presumably one man, one woman, over.” He waited for a response.

“Check for infection, over.” The other line said. He nudged the soldier with the binoculars. He looked through them and shook his head, then took the walkie out of the other soldier’s hands.

“Unable to verify.” He said into the receiver. “Please advise, over.”

“Kill them. Over.” The line said.

  The soldier placed his hands around the gun, looking through the gun’s sight and targeting one of the figure’s heads. He hovered his finger over the trigger, about to fire when his comrade with the binoculars stopped him.

“Wait!” He said. “Listen.” Both of them listened intently, hearing a faint male voice singing.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.” They heard. “You make me happy when skies are grey.” The soldier took his eye off of the gun’s sight. “You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you.” The voice became closer now. It was crackling and sobbing, but still singing. The soldier took his hand off of the trigger. “Please don’t take…”

“Survivors approaching!” The soldier with the binoculars called. Twenty men emerged from hiding, rushing over to assist Dan and Sophie.

Dan sniffled and his voice kept breaking. Even as he saw the men rush over to help them, he kept singing to Sophie to help her along.

“My sunshine…” He continued. The men came closer.

“Go, go, go!” One of the soldiers called to the others as he came closer to Dan and Sophie. Dan held a tight grip on Sophie’s arm. He closed his eyes and sobbed as he heard the heavy footsteps of the soldiers rushing towards him. He let out one more sob.

“Away.”

 


End file.
